The US women soccer national team will begin its world cup title defense next summer in France against 29th place Thailand in a group that also includes Chile and Sweden.
Host nation France will play the first game on June 7 against South Korea before facing off Norway and Nigeria in Group A. Germany will square off against Spain, South Africa, and China in Group B while England will battle it out with Scotland, Japan, and Argentina in Group D.
Brazil and Italy were drawn in Group C while Canada was ranked in Group E against Netherlands, Cameroon and New Zealand. The US will play its first game on June 11 in Reims but not before neighbors Scotland and England play on June 9 in Nice.
The US won the 2015 World Cup in Canada after a comfortable 5-2 win over Japan, the defending champions at the time. The team is ranked first by FIFA and finds itself in a Group with easy teams. The toughest group will be D, where the British teams and Japan all have great chances of qualifying into the knockout stage. Argentina is ranked 36th, much lower than the rest of the teams.
According to FIFA, more than 200,000 tickets have already been purchased for the event and the Football governing body aims for one billion viewers.
